More than a dozen arson fires at Burton mobile home park has residents worried

View full sizeRyan Garza/The Flint JournalSean Huggins, 18, said he was sleeping when the fire started on Jan. 25, 2012 after his grandmothers trailer was set ablaze as the latest in a string of 14 suspicious fires that have taken place at Twin Meadows off Fenton Road.

BURTON, Michigan — Twin Meadows resident Donna Stogner was distraught as she described the latest fire at a Burton mobile home park.

“It was just a whole wall of flames,” said Stogner, 69, of a Jan. 25 blaze, the latest in a string of 14 suspicious fires that have taken place at Twin Meadows off Fenton Road.

Five of the fires have come since the first of the year.

A recent fire to a neighboring home warped the cream-colored siding and ruined sections of paneling on Stogner's home.

“It’s not just the trailers they are burning, they are messing up three or four other trailers, too,” she said. “Somebody is going to get killed. If you’re sleeping and the smoke comes in and you pass out...you wouldn’t know to get out.”

Stogner’s grandson, 18-year-old Sean Huggins, said he was awakened by the smell of smoke outside his grandmother's trailer.

“I move my bed around. I was right under the power box. I was sleeping,” he said. “The next thing I know, my brother said there’s a fire. All I know is I could have died that day. They could see a black mark up and down the wall (where the fire was).”

Police have stepped up patrols in the area and are investigating.

Two of the fires came the same day -- Jan. 17 -- while two others were set Jan. 4 and 11.

Burton Detective Matt Bade declined comment when asked if police believe the fires were set by the same person.

Resident Aaron Gorsuch said he appreciates the increased police presence, but said he’d like to see a security person checking the park during the day and at night.

“What we have here is the only thing we own,” said Gorsuch, 26, of his home. “I’ll be as vigilant as I can. All I want is for it to stop.”

Gorsuch said he helped put out a fire next door several weeks ago and keeps an eye on the neighborhood.

“I stay up at night watching (out the window),” said Gorsuch, 24. “I have a 2-year-old son to think about.”

Signs are posted on abandoned trailers asking residents to call the
Michigan Arson Prevention Committee, offering a $5,000 reward with any
information on the fires.

Part of the signs read, “Put the arsonists where they belong. The fires they set affect all of us!”

Bruce Stein, the park’s owner, said there have been several discussions about hiring someone, aside from the police patrols, but he doesn’t envision any extra security.

“Unless we have a small army of security on a 30-acre site, it’s not going to prove effective,” he said.

View full sizeRyan Garza/The Flint JournalMistie Stogner (right), 36, watches as her husband Junior, 39, and Dan Greig (far left), 39, tear apart a trailer that was recently burned in an arson at Twin Meadows Mobile Home Park in Burton. 'A lot of us cant afford to live anywhere else. This is home to us. We're putting our best into it,' Stogner said, who was subcontracted to tear down the mobile homes that have been burned in arsons. 'We make a little money off the scrap. That's our pay for doing it plus we don't have to look at it.'

Junior Stogner, 38, has torn down seven trailers at the park since moving in eight months ago, selling them for scrap with Stein's permission.

Taking a moment while crinkling up metal from a burned-out trailer, Stogner said he has considered finding somewhere else to live.

“I’ve almost wanted to move out of here,” he said, living just around the corner from latest blaze. “You’ve got to stay strong, though.”

City Councilman Danny Wells said he’s noticed the rash of fires, having mentioned the situation during meetings last year.

“I think I said then it’s a lit cigarette on a windy day away from being a real disaster,” he said.

“It’s getting worse. Unfortunately, the people who live there and do what they are supposed to be doing are getting hurt.”

While Stein has cleared out several vacant trailers in the park after officials marked them unsuitable for occupation last summer, Wells said, “If there’s abandoned trailers, they need to get those out of there as soon as possible.”

Stein has no insurance on the homes that have been burned, stating, “These are homes that were abandoned in the park,” which can affect the price for coverage.

Lori Conarton, communications director for the Insurance Institute of Michigan, said coverage for homeowners and renters policies can be driven up by arson.

“When we pay our premiums, the insurance company pools that money,” she said. “If there’s a lot of arson fires driving up those losses, we have to pay more.”

Gorsuch said the situation is sometimes tense, but he doesn’t plan on letting whomever is setting the fires drive him from the park.